February is Black History Month, which “serves as both a celebration and a powerful reminder that Black history is American history, Black culture is American culture, and Black stories are essential to the ongoing story of America,” (President Biden, A Proclamation on National Black History Month, January 31, 2022) and we, too, celebrate Black History Month at St. John. Earlier this week, our all-school prayer began with a poem by Langston Hughes, who dreamt of “a world…Where love will bless the earth and peace its paths adorn.” It is also a good time to recall one of the nine defining characteristics of Catholic schools – Catholic schools are steeped in a Catholic worldview: “All curriculum and instruction should foster: the desire to seek wisdom and truth, the preference for social justice, the discipline to become self-learners, the capacity to recognize ethical and moral grounding for behavior, and the responsibility to transform and enrich the world with Gospel values.” (NCEA National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools) In the Gospels, we learn that Jesus values kindness, outreach, inclusion, patience, understanding, forgiveness, humility. We strive to be like Him. We pray that together we can continue to Act with Justice, Love with Mercy and Walk Humbly with God.
Students in grade 7 are living our theme. They are leading a supply drive to help local college students who are facing housing security. Be sure to read more about their service to the community and learn how you can support them.
Also, if you did not have the opportunity to attend the Parent Association meeting last Friday, I encourage you to watch the recording. Nurse practitioner, Lee Rolfe, part of the COVID Response Team along with Dora Hall, gave a highly informative school COVID update. Karen Bombino, Auction Chair, also shared important Auction News. All St. John parents and guardians are members of the Parent Association. If you are unable to attend the meetings, the recordings will be available afterward along with meeting notes on the PA page.
Speaking of the Auction, thank you to everyone who already turned in their procurement forms or donated online. Tomorrow is the deadline to turn in your procurement form, and it is also an in-service day for teachers, which means school is not in session (fourth-grade families – looking for something to do this long weekend or the long weekends coming up? Every Kid Outdoors is a national program that gives fourth-grade students and their families free access to hundreds of parks, lands, and waters for an entire year – check it out!). And last but certainly not least, thank you, to all the parents and guardians who submitted their re-enrollment forms, which were due yesterday. We are thankful that you are a part of our community!
Together We Can!
Bernadette O’Leary
